Animal Detective-Chapter 41: How About We Dig It Up and See?

Chen Chao remembered his master telling him during a casual chat.

He’d said that ordinary criminal detectives have to be like a slow bird that starts flying early—they have to compensate with hard work.

In a homicide case, for instance, you just follow the most basic playbook. First, identify the body to confirm the victim’s identity. Then, using that identity as a starting point, you investigate their social circle—love, money, or grudges. Ninety-nine percent of homicide cases fall within one of those three categories. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Then, don’t think of yourself as some Sherlock Holmes or a brilliant detective from a TV show. Just do the legwork. Don’t shy away from hardship or exhaustion, and diligently investigate every single lead.

Ninety-nine percent of cases can be solved that way.

Of course, Chen Chao had asked what the truly exceptional detectives were like.

His master had laughed, saying it was a silly question. The exceptional detectives were, of course, just like the brilliant ones you see on TV.

It’s like how you have to painstakingly grind through practice problems, waking up at five in the morning and going to bed at ten at night, all just to get a high score.

But geniuses are different. They take one look and know the answer, effortlessly getting scores you couldn’t even dream of.

They’re just brilliant and full of ideas.

His master had met people like that. He said they had a way of thinking that defied conventional logic.

Their thought process is non-linear. They can take the available clues and instinctively make bold deductions and predictions.

Often, they rely on intuition to solve cases.

And now, after hearing Shen Xin’s bold speculation, Chen Chao, for some inexplicable reason, found himself thinking of his master’s words.

He looked at Shen Xin, astonished, feeling that Shen Xin possessed exactly that kind of instinct.

You see a dog guarding a grave, and it seems perfectly reasonable to deduce that it’s standing watch over its master.

And yet, for a deduction that seemed so logical and straightforward, he felt he could be given a hundred years and still never have come up with it himself.

But Shen Xin had that natural intuition, the ability to effortlessly make that connection.

’This,’ Chen Chao thought, ’is probably the kind of gift his master was talking about.’

And it wasn’t the first time he’d shown this ability.

It had happened before.

During the case transfer meeting, Zhang Jian had mentioned that Shen Xin found a new clue: Li Jin was feeding a stray cat.

What had he himself said at the time? Just like everyone else, he’d thought it was a joke.

But Shen Xin? He had that natural instinct. He was able to make a deduction grounded in reality, suspecting that Li Jin was still feeding that stray cat.

As it turned out, he was right. They found Li Jin because of that very cat.

Which brought them back to his current deduction.

Chen Chao considered this for a moment. "Shen Xin," he asked, "how confident are you?"

’Digging up someone’s ancestral grave with no concrete clues, based entirely on speculation and inference? That’s just not right!’

"Captain Chen," Shen Xin said with a wry smile, "it’s just a guess. How could I possibly be certain?"

These past few days, he had been running through a lot of theories about Wu Jiawang’s disappearance.

Then, when he saw Lele’s strange behavior, he had a flash of inspiration and came up with this bold theory.

He wouldn’t dare claim to be certain.

"Why don’t we... dig it up and see?" Shen Xin asked tentatively.

’Is he in there or not? We’ll know once we dig.’

"Don’t be ridiculous," Chen Chao snapped, glaring at him.

’The People’s Police, digging up the people’s ancestral graves? Is he joking?’

"Let me ask you, what is Article 302 of the Criminal Law?" Chen Chao pressed.

Shen Xin flinched. "Captain Chen," he said with a sheepish grin, "I was just saying."

’Article 302: the crime of theft, desecration, or intentional destruction of a corpse, human remains, or ashes, punishable by up to three years in prison, criminal detention, or public surveillance.’

’And if you think just digging and looking doesn’t count as desecration, that’s fine—Article 293, the crime of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," would be waiting for you.’

’Not to mention the fact that I’m a public official, a police officer.’

"Then pretend I never said it, Captain Chen. Let’s go." Since it was all just his speculation, there was no way to confirm it without digging.

’I’ll just have to chalk it up to wild speculation.’

’Then again, there is one other way.’

Shen Xin’s gaze fell on Lele.

’I could take the dog back with me, figure out how to raise the favorability level on its icon—get it to stage two. Then I’d be able to hear its thoughts.’

’For example, if it ran to the grave, lay down, and thought, ’Master, I’m here again,’ then I’d have my proof.’

’No, that won’t work either.’

’How would I explain it to Captain Chen later? "I heard the dog’s thoughts, and it said Wu Jiawang is buried in the grave?" Captain Chen would be sure to think I was insane.’

Shen Xin suggested they leave, but unexpectedly, Chen Chao didn’t budge.

He crossed his arms, carefully studying the grave. It was as if Shen Xin’s speculation had planted an insidious seed in his mind, one that was beginning to sprout uncontrollably.

The more he thought about it, the more reasonable the speculation seemed.

"Xiaoshen."

He beckoned to Shen Xin, motioning for him not to leave just yet. "Think about it," he said. "Wu Jiawang was eight when he went missing. A kid that age is already aware of things. Normally, human traffickers don’t target children that old."

"Of course, as Zhao Shouchuan mentioned, there are cases where they’re abducted, maimed, and forced to beg. But that type of trafficker usually targets children in remote villages, not in cities."

"Back when our precinct got this case, we seriously considered the possibility of homicide at first. But given the Wu Family’s situation, they didn’t have any complicated social ties, so we gradually ruled it out."

Who would hold such a deep grudge against a lonely, blind old man that they would kill his only grandson just to spite him?

The Wu Family had a good reputation in Xianghong Village.

"But looking back at it now, I actually think your theory that Wu Jiawang was killed in an accidental hit-and-run is a rather reasonable one."

"If he was killed in a hit-and-run, disposing of the body is a huge hassle. Burying it... Zhang Jian said it himself, this area is quite developed. The probability of a body remaining undiscovered after seven years is very small."

"But, just as you said, what if the suspect really did have a flash of inspiration and thought to bury the body in their own ancestral grave? In that case, forget seven years—as long as the grave isn’t moved, it could be ten years and no one would ever find it."

’Who has the time to go around digging up graves? Talk about bad luck.’

’But for that very reason, a grave is the perfect place to hide a body.’

He said this as he walked up to the graves. He circled the two tombs, observing them carefully.

He was probably looking for any signs that the grave had been disturbed.

But after seven years, any traces would be long gone.

He stepped back, studying the tombstone in silence.

Shen Xin understood. It seemed Captain Chen was coming around to his theory but still had reservations.

’Because there was no hard evidence.’

Shen Xin couldn’t help but wonder again. ’I can’t very well dig it up, but what if someone else did?’

’And I actually have the perfect person in mind.’

Shen Xin couldn’t resist looking at Chen Chao.

Just then, Chen Chao looked over as well. Their eyes met, and a silent understanding began to form between them.

Chen Chao shuddered, shaking his head immediately. "Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t just do something because you think it’ll work. Wu Zhicun is a blind man. How would you explain him randomly showing up to dig up a grave?"

Shen Xin let out a soft "oh." So Captain Chen had been thinking the same thing.

’Shen Xin had been thinking that since Wu Zhicun kept yelling about how he wasn’t afraid to die, he could be the one to do the digging and bear all the responsibility.’

"Captain Chen, what do we do then?" Shen Xin was out of ideas.

"You idiot."

Chen Chao put a hand on Shen Xin’s shoulder. "I’ve told you before," he said, "stop getting caught up in the kind of case-solving you see on TV and forgetting the most fundamental investigative methods."

He pointed at the tombstone.

"You suspect this ancestral grave, don’t you? Then investigate it. Investigate the Gao Family. If you can find any connection whatsoever between them and Wu Jiawang, then we’ll have a lead, won’t we?"

Shen Xin looked at the names on the tombstone of those who erected it, and his eyes instantly lit up.

’Of course!’

’That was the proper way to investigate.’